Street cleaning in Japantown, SF

Street-cleaning schedules in Japantown are set block by block: each side of each street has its own day and time, so there's no single neighborhood-wide schedule. Open Japantown on the CURB map to see the exact posted schedule and next sweep for any block. In practice, most Japantown street-cleaning tickets are written on Wednesdays, clustered around 6am.

As of 2026 the street-cleaning fine is $105 citywide (many older sites still list $73 to $97; those are out of date). Over the last ~2 years, Japantown drivers were issued 5,368 street-cleaning tickets totaling about $548k in fines.

Move your car before the posted window: most tickets here are written around 6am on Wednesdays. CURB lets you tap your block, see the next sweep, and set a free reminder (calendar or push) ~30 minutes before, plus the night before. The posted sign always wins if it differs.

Yes. Under SFMTA's rules, once the sweeper has physically swept your side of the street you can re-park there, even if the posted hours haven't ended. But you can't park during the posted window just because it looks done early, and being even a minute off is ticketable. On most Japantown blocks the sweep clusters around 6am on Wednesdays. Check your exact block on the map.

Regular street sweeping stops on every city holiday SFMTA lists, about a dozen a year (for example Memorial Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas), overnight routes included. About 590 blocks post a holiday schedule on their sign, like HOLIDAYS 4 TO 6AM, and are swept at those hours on those days, except on New Year's Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas, when nothing is swept. Temporary signs and the posted schedule always override. When in doubt, read the sign on your block.

SF street-cleaning tows go to AutoReturn at 450 7th Street (open 24/7). Call (415) 865-8200 or check autoreturn.com to find your car. Expect a tow fee plus daily storage on top of the $105 ticket; a discounted low-income rate is available. Note: SF's "Text Before Tow" alerts do not cover street-cleaning tows.

File a protest within 21 days of the citation through the SFMTA citation portal, ideally with a photo from where you parked showing a missing, faded, or blocked sign, or that you were ticketed outside the posted window. A meaningful share of first-level protests are dismissed, so it's often worth contesting if your sign was unclear.